The Intruder

I left the mansion with Riel and Rillu to patrol the grounds.

Truth be told, I'd wanted Riel to stay behind—but she was having none of it.

"I'm going too!"

"But it could be dangerous."

"We're already in this deep. It's dangerous no matter where we go."

"Still..."

"That's enough."

It was Rillu who cut me off as I tried desperately to talk Riel out of it.

"If you're that worried, then you just have to protect her yourself."

"......"

She wasn't wrong. But if we were talking about safety, staying here under Phyllis and the other knights' protection would have been...

"Kyou."

"......"

At Riel's call, I met her eyes. Those clear, crimson irises looked straight into mine.

...Fine. I lost.

This wasn't the timid, withdrawn Riel from the original novel. This was Riel as she was always meant to be—bright, forward, full of life. And that was the girl I'd fallen for.

"No reckless stunts. You stay close to me and Rillu. Got it?"

"Okay!"

The moment permission left my lips, she smiled as bright as the sun.

We left Phyllis and Luca in the Duchess's chambers and entrusted the remaining knights with the room.

The ducal estate was sprawling. Even after leaving the mansion proper, the grounds stretched out far larger than the building itself—gardens, of course, plus annexes, greenhouses, and more. Naturally it was vast. A house of this caliber boasted a garden the size of a public park, and that only made the scale more staggering.

"There should have been anti-intrusion magic... why didn't it activate?"

Riel voiced the question that had been circling in my head. She was right. A ducal mansion like this would have anti-intrusion magic woven into those high walls, making any break-in far from easy. And yet someone had still gotten onto the grounds. I couldn't even imagine what kind of person that would take.

"Ah, I heard that when they stormed this place, someone named Eve smashed it."

"What? My sister did...?"

"Hm? That's your sister? Well... Princess Aine said so, so I suppose it is."

Anti-intrusion magic, as the name suggested, required permission from someone inside before anyone could enter from outside. Normally a servant managing the building would verify a visitor's face and grant approval, or you'd pass through with a Magic Stone that served as a key...

"...Why would my sister do that to her own house?"

"Beats me."

Come to think of it, when I'd first arrived at the mansion, the front gate had looked newly built. Even if they'd replaced the gate, though, you'd need a specialist mage to recast the anti-intrusion magic. They probably hadn't gotten around to it yet—and of course an intruder had chosen that exact window to slip in.

"Still, how did they get over walls that high?"

"Could be an intruder with exceptional agility."

I glanced up at the high walls encircling the ducal grounds. They were a bit weathered, crumbling in places, but still remarkably tall. Three, maybe four meters.

"Or they can fly."

"Fly?"

At Rillu's words, I found myself looking up at the sky. Not a single bird crossed the cloud-hazed summer sky.

"Yeah. For instance... something like that!"

Rillu suddenly raised the bow she'd been carrying, nocked an arrow, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drew the string. A sharp whistle tore through the air as the arrow flew toward empty space.

"Kyaaaaah!!"

A piercing scream, and the arrow seemed to punch through something, hanging in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠midair. Then it vanished in a burst of light, and only the sound of the arrow hitting the ground remained.

"Wh-what was that?"

"A fairy."

Rillu tossed off the answer to Riel's question as if it were nothing. Fairies were so rare that people who'd actually seen one could be counted on one hand... wait, that wasn't quite true. There was the light fairy Alan had summoned as a familiar, for instance.

"Fairies can hide themselves. Makes it easier to play pranks, apparently."

"That's a pretty ridiculous reason."

"Yeah, well. I can sense their presence, so it's not a problem... but why are they just flying around?"

I couldn't see them, but Rillu was scanning the air, her eyes tracking something. She looked like someone watching flies buzzing around her.

"How many are there?"

"Three... no, four. But they don't seem like they're about to attack. More like..."

Rillu pulled her gaze from the sky and looked at us.

"They seem... afraid of something."

Fairies, afraid? Was there something in this mansion? I couldn't make sense of it, but since I couldn't even see the fairies, there wasn't much I could do.

"We can't just leave them, though... shall I hunt them down?"

With that, Rillu nocked another arrow and started shooting.

"Kyaaaah!!"

"Stop dodging!"

The fairies must have felt the danger. Aside from one she'd managed to take down, the rest kept evading her shots. If I could see them, I could have helped. Sure, I could spray magic wildly in the direction Rillu was shooting and maybe hit one by chance, but blasting spells around a ducal garden would just wreck the landscaping.

As I was thinking that, Riel suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Riel? What's wrong?"

"Kyou, let's borrow her power."

"Hers?"

Whose? I hesitated at the sudden suggestion, and Riel sighed.

"Did you forget? Baduk."

"Ah."

...Right. I had a summon. Baduk. After the outdoor class, I'd taken him out to play on days off now and then, then somehow forgotten about him.

I quietly focused my mana and summoned Baduk.

"Woof!!"

A great gust of wind, and Baduk appeared in midair with a booming bark. He scattered green mana around him as he barked valiantly. The cute puppy face kind of undercut the effect, but a dog was a dog. Nothing to be done about it.

"Whiiine..."

Whether it was a complaint about how long it'd been since I'd called him, Baduk whimpered and circled my feet.

"Look, I... I've been really busy lately, that's all... Sorry."

"Whiiine..."

"I'll play with you more from now on."

At some point Riel had summoned her own familiar, Frey, and was hugging her close. Riel had probably been calling Frey out now and then to play. My Baduk, though—if I summoned him indoors, he'd wreck the place, so I hadn't had much choice. He needed to be summoned outside.

"Those are your summons?"

Having spotted our familiars, Rillu approached with interest. As she came closer, Baduk startled and stepped back, then slowly padded toward her.

"Woof! Woof!!"

"Oh, a Sylphid Wolf? You've contracted with a pretty decent one."

Hear that, Baduk? You're in the pretty-decent category.

More importantly, I had no idea what kind of summon he even was. A Sylphid Wolf? So that's what he was...

...Wait.

"A Sylphid Wolf?"

"Yeah. They used to live in droves in the forest where I grew up. Been a while since I've seen one."

"Woof! Woof!"

Baduk barked happily. But I just stared at him, stunned.

Hold on...

"...A wolf? Not a dog?"

"Yep. He's a wolf."

I stared hard at Baduk's face. No way. With that face, a wolf? At best he looked like a Shiba Inu, or maybe a retriever.

"You're a wolf?"

"Grrnn..."

Baduk let out a dissatisfied rumble. Seeing that, Rillu burst out laughing.

"Ahaha! Well, yeah, his face is a bit goofy, but he's definitely a wolf."

"Really?"

"Really. I like it, though. He looks like someone I know."

"Woof! Woof!"

Baduk puffed out his chest as if proud. You just got called goofy. Don't look so pleased.

Anyway, we decided to borrow Baduk's presence-sensing ability. A summon's sensory gifts get transmitted directly to the contractor—no explanation needed.

"Kyaaaaah!!"

And so I could feel the fairies' presence that Baduk had detected. One fairy that had been watching Rillu warily was caught by the Wind Cutter and vanished on the spot.

"They got another one!"

"Scary! Scary!"

The fairies revealed themselves. Childlike figures with wings of light. Their sparkling blue eyes were filled with terror as they stared at me.

"What are you! What are you!"

"Scary! Scary! Scary!"

Okay, they've been saying "scary" this whole time. Sure, I sliced one with magic, but if we were talking scary, shouldn't Rillu—who'd shot two of them dead—be the frightening one?

"It stinks! It stinks!"

"A scary smell! A scary smell!"

......

"Huh?"

At that, I forgot about the fight entirely and sniffed myself. No—aside from a faint hint of sweat, I didn't smell like anything. If anything, I was the type who washed every single day. I was pretty particular about cleanliness.

"...Riel, do I smell?"

At my words, Riel's eyes went wide, and she stepped closer.

"Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff..."

"R-Riel?"

You don't actually have to bury your nose in my chest to check. This is really embarrassing. What if I actually do smell? That's why it's embarrassing.

"Sniff sniff... sniff sniff..."

"Um... Riel? How long are you going to do that?"

"Hah."

At my words, Riel jumped back, startled. Her face was bright red.

"Ah... that's... well."

"Uh, yeah... it's fine, but do I actually smell?"

Be honest with me, Riel. Getting told I stink by a fairy out of nowhere has me pretty self-conscious.

"Ah... yeah... you smell really good..."

"What?"

"No... yeah! It's fine! It's not bad!"

...Right. So it wasn't some weird smell, then?

"The smell of an outsider! An outsider! It's an outsider!!"

"Scary! Scary!!"

I still had no idea what was going on, but the fairies were looking at me and accusing me of stinking. And apparently the smell was terrifying.

"Don't you dare look away."

"Kyaaaaaaah!!"

One of the fairies making all that racket was struck by an arrow from Rillu and vanished. The price of focusing on me and forgetting to watch out for her.

"Elf! Outsider! Too scary!"

The last remaining fairy was flying around in a panic.

"Outsider! Smell! A shitty smell!"

......

Okay, that one actually stung a little.

"Wahh!!"

I flung the spell out of irritation, but with the distance and how fast it was, it dodged easily.

"The stinky scary human attacked again!"

"Would you shut up already?! You damn fairy!"

"Stinky human! Ugly human!!"

That appearance—blue eyes and silver hair, weirdly reminiscent of Alan—plus that attitude was starting to get on my nerves. I was thinking about how I could wreck this thing when it happened.

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!!"

"Huh?"

The fairy was on fire. Flames redder than ordinary fire magic.

"Hot! Hot!!"

The fairy screamed as it burned. It ran around frantically trying to put itself out, but the fire wouldn't die—it only burned hotter. Eventually the fairy that had been writhing in pain vanished in a burst of light.

Rillu and I both stared blankly, then our gazes shifted. To Riel, her hand still outstretched toward where the fairy had been.

"Uh... Riel?"

"Prominence Flare, is it? Fine magic."

Riel turned to me, then ran over and clasped both my hands tightly.

"Kyou!"

"Uh... uhh... yeah?"

"It's okay! You don't smell bad at all!!"

"...Huh?"

"If anything, you smell amazing, so it's fine! I'll vouch for it!"

"...Uh, yeah, th-thanks?"

I had no idea what to say.

"That's enough, you two. The intruder is still out there."

At Rillu's words, both Riel and I stopped and looked at her. Rillu's ears twitched.

"This time it's not a fairy... what is this? Not human, either..."

That was when it happened. Something tore through the air, and I reached out on instinct.

"Woof!!"

Baduk lunged forward and swatted away whatever had been flying at Rillu. It was an arrow. Rillu, who'd nearly been hit, widened her eyes and let out a groan.

"Huh... yeah, no wonder I couldn't place it. It's been so long I'd completely forgotten."

"Rillu, what do you mean?"

"Both of you, be careful. This enemy isn't as easy as those fairies."

In the direction Rillu was glaring, two figures in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠green hoods dropped down from the top of the wall. One of them was probably the one who'd loosed that arrow.

"Took too long getting over the wall. The bugs have already been dealt with."

One of them muttered. From the voice, it was a man. His blue eyes looked straight at us. Then he pulled back his hood.

At Rillu's words, I let my hand drift toward the sword at my waist.